The Fertile Crescent Empires

This week, students in my general classes completed vocabulary charts.  Basically, they displayed all of the vocabulary terms, definitions, and applications graphically.  The application part seemed to be the most difficult based on my review of their work.  I will give some examples below.  But first, here are the definitions of their newest set of terms:

1. Empire:  many territories and peoples controlled by one government
2. Babylon:  the capital of Babylonia; a city of great wealth and luxury
3. Caravan:  a group of travelers journeying together
4. Bazaar:  a market selling different kinds of goods
5. Zoroastrianism:  a religion that developed in ancient Persia

Students also completed a physical map of the ancient Fertile Crescent.  For the most part, they scored well.  I will distribute their graded maps in class tomorrow.

Back to the vocabulary assignment...  Since so many students struggled to appropriately apply the words, I will apply each of them tonight.  I will be reviewing all of the words on Monday and sharing these sentences.

1. Scribe:  In ancient Sumer only male students could study to become scribes.
2. Fertile Crescent:  The modern-day country of Iraq is located in the middle of the ancient Fertile Crescent.
3. City-State:  Singapore is an example of a modern-day city-state; few remain.
4. Polytheism:  The polytheistic people, such as the ancient Egyptians, worshipped several gods and goddesses.
5. Myth:  Sumerian myths warned that the gods would punish the people who angered them.
6. Empire:  Hammurabi, leader of the Babylonians, created one of the first empires as he conquered many Mesopotamian city-states.
7. Babylon:  Some historians would argue that Babylon was the most gorgeous capitol city of the ancient world.
8. Caravan:  The nomads of north Africa often traveled in caravans as the moved from place to place in search of food.
9. Bazaar:  When I visited Khan al-Kahlili in Egypt, I was amazed at the variety of goods that were sold and traded at the bazaar.
10. Zoroastrianism:  The Persians, a polytheistic people, primarily practiced Zoroastrianism.

Hopefully you can see how the sentences that I created demonstrated that I fully understood the words that I defined.  You should also notice that I included words from the previous unit in my definitions.  That is what I'm looking for from my students.

Honors students completed another literature assignment.  They read about the Babylonians and the nonfiction article did a great job of showing us how people changed as time moved on.  From hunter-gatherers to somewhat modern civilizations, the Fertile Crescent transformed before our eyes.  Students took Cornell notes as they read.  I have gone through their notes and I am very pleased with the way the students interacted with the text.  Students should continue to work on their physical maps of the Fertile Crescent - they must be complete and submitted by Wednesday.

Upcoming:  Honors students will be in the library, for research, as they begin to prepare for their upcoming debates.  General students will have a review of the vocabulary and will become more familiar with Cornell notes.